How does the environment affect physiology?
How does physiology influence the behavior of marine animals?
What can fish movement and reproductive ecology teach us about how to manage fisheries in a changing ocean?
Research Themes
Organisms on the move! Implications of Climate Change for Marine Populations
Just inside North Carolina’s Outer Banks is the Pamlico Sound, the largest lagoonal estuary in the United States. Pamlico Sound provides critical nursery area for many ecologically, commercially, and recreationally important species of fish and invertebrates and straddles one of the most significant climate and biogeographic breaks in the world, making the region especially important to understand as oceans continue to warm. My research examined a 30-year data set on shrimp catches in Pamlico Sound in order to understand the effects of climate and environmental variability on the growth and movements of brown, white, and pink shrimp and project how future environmental change may affect shrimp ecology and shrimp fisheries. Currently, we are comparing our quantitative results to a qualitative survey of fishers to assess how local ecological knowledge can additionally inform management.
A brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus) caught in Pamlico Sound.
Mahi-mahi tagged with a pop-up satellite archival tag (PSAT) swims away from the boat after being released in the Florida Straits. PSATs can provide detailed fishery independent information on temperature, depth, and acceleration patterns as well as collect light data that can be modeled to estimate migratory pathways.
Movement Ecology
Understanding the habitat use and movement ecology of pelagic fishes can tell us a huge amount about their physiological constraints, ecology, and how they may be affected by changing environmental conditions such as warming oceans or oil spills. I am excited about using the latest developments in electronic tags to learn more about how environmental variables affect the movements, activity, and spawning behavior of highly migratory fishes. By putting tag data into context with information on fish physiology we can learn much more than the movement patterns of individual fish.
Sensory Physiology
Understanding fish physiology is key to understanding the link between the environment and fish behavior. Using an electro olfactogram technique allows you to measure the voltage change that occurs across the olfactory epithelium while the fish encounters environmental cues. I use these experiments to examine the importance of various olfactory cues for different species, the effect of toxicants on the sensory system, and insight into behavior patterns.
Testing the olfactory acuity, or sense of smell, using an electrophysiological technique called an electro olfactogram (EOG) assay. A glass electrode measures the voltage at the olfactory epithelium while a second glass electrode measures (and subtracts) the background voltage of the fish. A glass pipette delivers odors.
Behavior
Behavior assays done in the lab can be tightly controlled and allow us to understand fish behavior in response to variable environmental conditions or toxicants. I use behavior experiments in concert with physiology experiments to understand how stressors like oil spills or climate change may change distributions of fish in the wild.
Graphical abstract for my publication “Exposure to Crude Oil from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Impairs Oil Avoidance Behavior without Affecting Olfactory Physiology in Juvenile Mahi-Mahi (Coryphaena hippurus)” published in Environmental Science & Technology. Juvenile mahi-mahi avoid crude oil, but after an oil exposure they no longer do so. They can also detect oil as an olfactory cue before and after oil exposure suggesting that their loss of oil avoidance is due to central nervous system effects from oil exposure rather than effects to their olfactory sensory neurons.
Publications
Student authors underlined
13. Blewett, T, Ackerly, KL, Schlenker, LS, Martin, S, Nielsen, KM. 2024. Implications of biotic factors for toxicity testing in laboratory studies. Science of the Total Environment. 908, 168220.
12. Schlenker, LS, Stewart, C, Rock, J, Heck, N, Morley, JW. 2023. Environmental and climate variability drive population size of annual penaeid shrimp in a large lagoonal estuary. PLoS ONE. 18(5): e0285498. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285498
11. Schlenker, LS, Stieglitz, JD, Greer, JB, Failletaz, R, Lam, CH, Hoenig, RH, Heuer, RM, McGuigan, CJ, Pasparakis, C, Esche, EB, Ménard, GM, Schlenk, D, Benetti, DD, Paris, CB, Grosell, M. 2022. Brief oil exposure reduces fitness in wild Gulf of Mexico mahi-mahi. Environmental Science & Technology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c01783
10. Hansen, NGW, Madsen, SS, Brauchhoff, M, Heuer, RM, Schlenker, LS, Engelund, MB, Grosell, M. 2021. Magnesium transport in the aglomerular kidney of the Gulf Toadfish (Opsanus beta). Journal of Comparative Physiology B. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-021-01392-8
9. Schlenker, LS, Failletaz, R, Stieglitz, JD, Lam, CH, Hoenig, RH, Cox, GK, Heuer, RM, Pasparakis, C, Benetti, DD, Paris, CB, Grosell, M. 2021. Remote predictions of mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) spawning in the open ocean using summarized accelerometry data. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8:626082. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.626082
8. McGuigan, CJ, Schlenker, LS, Stieglitz, JD, Benetti, DD, Grosell, M. 2021. Quantifying the effects of pop-up satellite archival tags on the swimming performance and behavior of young-adult mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 78(1): 32-39. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2020-0030.
7. Schlenker, LS, Welch, MJ, Mager, EM, Stieglitz, JD, Benetti, DD, Munday, PL, Grosell, M. 2019. Exposure to crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impairs oil avoidance behavior without affecting olfactory physiology in juvenile mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus). Environmental Science and Technology, doi: 10.1021/acs.est.9b05240
6. Schlenker, LS, Welch, MJ, Meredith, TM, Mager, EM, Lari, E, Babcock, EA, Pyle, GG, Munday, PL, Grosell, M. 2019. Damsels in distress: Oil exposure modifies behavior and olfaction in bicolor damselfish (Stegastes partitus). Environmental Science and Technology, doi: 10.1021/acs.est.9b03915
5. Mager, EM, Pasparakis, C, Schlenker, LS, Yao, Z, Bodinier, C, Stieglitz, JD, Hoenig, R, Morris, JM, Benetti, DD, Grosell, M. 2017. Assessment of early life stage mahi-mahi windows of sensitivity during acute exposures to Deepwater Horizon crude oil. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, doi: 10.1002/etc.3713
4. Xu, EG, Mager, EM, Grosell, M, Pasparakis, C, Schlenker, LS, Stieglitz, JD, Benetti, D, Hazard, ES, Courtney, SM, Diamante, G, Freitas, J, Hardiman, G, Schlenk, D. 2016. Time- and oil-dependent transcriptomic and physiological responses to Deepwater Horizon oil in mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) embryos and larvae. Environmental Science and Technology 50, 7842-7851 doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b02205
3. Schlenker, LS, Brill, RW, Latour, RJ, Graves, JE. 2016. Physiological stress and post-release mortality of white marlin (Kajikia albida) caught in the United States recreational fishery. Conservation Physiology 4 (1) doi: 10.1093/conphys/cov066
2. Gregalis, KC, Schlenker, LS, Drymon, JM, Mareska, JF, Powers, SP. 2012. Evaluating the performance of vertical longlines to survey reef fish populations in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 141:6, 1453-1464.
1. Cicia, AM, Schlenker, LS, Sulikowski, JA, Mandelman, JW. 2012. Seasonal variations in the physiological stress response to discrete bouts of aerial exposure in the little skate, Leucoraja erinacea. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology-Part A, 162: 130-138.